Sunday, Aug. 22
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Russian shot put gold medalist Irina
Korzhanenko was under investigation for a positive drug test,
international and Russian Olympic officials confirmed Sunday.
Korzhanenko, the first woman to win a gold medal at the site of
Ancient Olympia, tested positive for the steroid stanozolol after
Wednesday's competition, Russian Olympic Committee spokesman
Gennady Shvets said. Korzhanenko's backup sample also came back
positive, the Russian committee said.
Stanozolol is the same steroid that cost Canadian sprinter Ben
Johnson his gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1988 Seoul
Olympics.
Also, Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis was stripped of his
bronze medal and expelled from the Olympics for a doping offense,
another embarrassment for the host nation after sprinters Kostas
Kenteris and Katerina Thanou pulled out amid an IOC investigation
of their missed drug tests. He was the first athlete in Athens to
lose his medal because of doping.
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Track and Field
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Justin Gatlin ran the race of his life,
barely holding off the field to win the 100 meters in 9.85 seconds.
Francis Obikwelu of Portugal got the silver in 9.86 and
defending champion Maurice Greene won bronze in 9.87. A third
American, Shawn Crawford, was fourth in 9.89.
Five runners broke the 10-second mark, and another -- world
champion Kim Collins -- finished in exactly 10 seconds.
It was the closest finish in an Olympic 100 final since the
U.S.-boycotted 1980 Moscow Games, when Allan Wells of Britain held
off Silvio Leonard of Cuba as the two were timed in 10.25.
Gail Devers, the most talented yet star-crossed hurdler of her
generation, failed once again in the Olympics as she was struck by
injury in preliminaries of the 100-meter event.
Devers, 37, who has three world championships in the 100, pulled
up short and screamed as she slid under the first hurdle. She hurt
her leg in practice a week ago but has refused to discuss the
injury in detail.
Mizuki Noguchi of Japan won the marathon in 2:26:20, retracing
the historic route from Marathon to Athens. Catherine Ndereba of
Kenya won the silver and American Deena Kastor got the bronze -- the
first U.S. medal in the event since Joan Benoit's gold 20 years
ago.
Fani Halkia of Greece thrilled the sold-out Olympic Stadium
crowd with an Olympic record of 52.77 seconds in the 400-meter
hurdles semifinals. The old record was 52.82, set by Jamaica's Deon
Hemmings at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Stefan Holm of Sweden won the high jump, clearing 7 feet, 83/4
inches (2.36 meters). Matt Hemingway of the United States took the
silver and Jaroslav Baba of the Czech Republic the bronze. Both
cleared 7-8 (2.34).
Christian Olsson of Sweden won the gold medal with a triple jump
of 58-41/2 (17.79 meters). Marian Oprea of Romania won silver and
Danila Burkenya of Russia got bronze.
Adrian Annus of Hungary won the hammer throw gold medal with an
effort of 272-11 inches (83.19 meters). Koji Murofushi of Japan won
the silver medal. Ivan Tikhon of Belarus got the bronze.
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Gymnastics
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Americans Terin Humphrey and Courtney
Kupets took the silver and bronze medals on uneven bars, giving the
United States its sixth and seventh gymnastics medals of the Athens
Olympics.
Emilie Lepennec of France won the gold. Two-time Olympic
champion Svetlana Khorkina of Russia fell during her routine and
finished last of the eight competitors.
Humprhey and Kupets joined Annia Hatch, who won silver on the
vault, as medalists in the event finals. The Americans also won
silver medals in both team competitions and golds in both
all-arounds.
The seven medals are the most for the United States in a
non-boycotted Olympics since 1932. At the boycotted 1984 Los
Angeles Games, the Americans won 16.
Kyle Shewfelt won the men's floor exercise, giving Canada its
first Olympic gold medal in gymnastics. Marian Dragulescu of
Romania was second with the same score as Shewfelt, a 9.787, but
tiebreakers dropped him to second. Jordan Jovtchev of Bulgaria won
bronze.
Paul Hamm, who became the first U.S. man to win all-around gold
Wednesday in what has become a disputed finish, was fifth on floor.
Dimosthenis Tampakos of Greece sent the gym into a frenzy,
winning gold on the rings with 9.862 points. Jovtchev took silver
with 9.850 points. Five-time world champion Yuri Chechi of Italy
won bronze with 9.812.
Monica Rosu of Romania won the gold medal in the vault, followed
by Hatch and Anna Pavlova of Russia.
Teng Haibin of China won gold on the pommel horse with a score
of 9.837. Marius Daniel Urzica of Romania won silver with 9.825.
Takehiro Kashima of Japan won bronze with 9.787.
In a controversy over men's gymnastics scoring, South Korean
team leaders met with lawyers to plan an appeal of the all-around
gold given to Hamm. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport
indicated it won't take the case.
"If it's a dispute related to scoring or judging, it would be
very difficult for CAS to review the decision of the gymnastics
federation," general secretary Matthieu Reeb said. "As a
practice, CAS does not review field-of-play decisions."
Judges failed to give enough points for the parallel bars
routine by Yang Tae-young, and he ended up with the bronze. Had it
been scored correctly, he would have beaten Hamm for gold.
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Softball
United States 5, Australia 0
Australia 3, Japan 0
Japan 1, China 0
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Lisa Fernandez pitched a three-hitter and
Crystl Bustos drove in two runs as the Americans rolled to their
eighth shutout in eight days, beating Australia to put them in the
gold medal game.
Natasha Watley had three more infield hits, Kelly Kretschman
homered and the U.S. team (8-0) dominated again. The Americans have
won 78 straight games since last July, and have yet to yield a run
in the Athens Games.
They've outscored their opponents 46-0 while allowing just 14
hits.
Reika Utsugi hit an RBI double in the eighth inning and Yukiko
Ueno pitched a shutout, giving Japan a win over China. It wasn't
sealed until Li Chunxia was thrown out at the plate to end the
game.
Later, Kerry Wyborn hit a three-run double and Tanya Harding
pitched her fourth shutout of the tournament as Australia beat
Japan 3-0, setting up a rematch Monday with the United States in
the gold medal game.
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Baseball
Taiwan 5, Netherlands 1
Japan 6, Greece 1
Cuba 5, Italy 0
Canada 11, Australia 0
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Japan earned the top seed in the medal
round by defeating Greece while Cuba beat Italy to complete group
play. The Cubans lost to Japan earlier, the difference in the
seedings.
Canada routed Australia to earn the No. 3 seed in the
semifinals, where it will face Cuba. Australia, which beat Japan
9-4 on Wednesday, will face the Japanese again in the other
semifinal.
Taiwan beat the Dutch team led by former major league manager
Davey Johnson to place fifth.
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Beach Volleyball
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs beat the
German pair of Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau 21-17, 21-17 and
top-seeded Misty May and Kerri Walsh beat Canadians Guylaine Dumont
and Annie Martin, 21-19, 21-14. It will be an all-American final
Monday.
Stein Metzger and Dax Holdren lost to Swiss pair Patrick
Heuscher and Stefan Kobel 21-16, 21-19 in the Olympic
quarterfinals, ending U.S. hopes of a third straight gold medal on
the men's side.
Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes won the first Olympic beach
tournament in 1996 and Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana won in
2000.
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Boxing
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Heavyweight Devin Vargas couldn't land the
big punch he needed against Viktar Zuyev of Belarus, dropping a
36-27 decision in the latest in a string of losses for the U.S.
boxing team.
Vargas would have been guaranteed at least a bronze had he won.
Three of the nine U.S. boxers remain in medal contention, and
none has an easy road to the semifinal medal round. Middleweight
Andre Dirrell and super heavyweight Jason Estrada must beat Cubans
to win medals and light heavyweight Andre Ward faces two-time world
champion Evgeny Makarenko of Russia.
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Cycling
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- World champion Sarah Ulmer of New Zealand
continued her dominance in the 3,000-meter pursuit, breaking her
own world record to win the gold medal.
Ulmer finished in 3:24.537, nearly two seconds faster than her
world record set in Friday's qualifying. Australia's Katie Mactier
won silver while retiring Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel of the
Netherlands got bronze -- her sixth and final Olympic medal.
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Diving
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Chantelle Newbery won Australia's first
gold medal in diving since 1924, easily holding off China's Lao
Lishi and Aussie teammate Loudy Tourky in women's 10-meter
platform.
American Laura Wilkinson, the defending Olympic champion, was
fifth.
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Equestrian
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- American show jumping riders were solid in
qualifying. Beezie Madden and Peter Wylde had problem-free rounds,
putting the United States among the favorites for the gold when 16
countries compete for team medals Tuesday.
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Fencing
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- French fencers earned their third gold
medal in Athens, defeating Hungary 43-32 in the men's team epee
final. The United States placed sixth.
France's Brice Guyart won the individual foil gold earlier, as
did the French men's saber team. France has won six total fencing
medals.
Germany beat Russia to take the bronze on the last day of
fencing competition. The Germans' other fencing medal came in
women's team epee.
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Field Hockey
Germany 3, South Korea 2
New Zealand 3, Spain 2
Netherlands 1, Australia 0
China 3, Argentina 2
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Two-time defending Olympic gold medalist
Australia failed to advance from the first round after a loss to
the Netherlands, which is unbeaten in four games. Dutch captain
Mijntje Donners scored on a penalty corner in the 47th minute.
Australia's loss, combined with Germany's victory over South
Korea, put the Germans into the semifinals.
China finished first in Group A with four wins after defeating
Argentina. Tang Chunling scored off a rebound on a saved penalty
corner to break a 2-2 tie. Argentina was second in the group and
will play the Netherlands in Tuesday's semifinals. China plays
Germany.
New Zealand earned its first victory of the tournament against
winless Spain.
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Rowing
SCHINIAS, Greece (AP) -- The American men's elite eight crew
ended a 40-year drought in rowing gold medals, taking a big lead
and fending off a late charge by runner-up the Netherlands.
Australia won the bronze.
The U.S. women's eight won the silver medal, but had a more
subdued celebration. The favored Americans finished behind a
Romanian boat they had edged in the initial heat.
The American men, who set a world record in last week's
qualifying, started quick and turned a half-second lead at 500
meters into a commanding 3.26 at 1,000.
From there, it was only a matter of maintaining the lead. The
Netherlands closed the gap by nearly 2 seconds over the final 1,000
meters but the U.S. never appeared threatened, finishing in
5:42.48.
The Romanian women's eight posted a 1.86-second victory,
finishing in 6:17.70. After the United States, the Netherlands won
bronze.
In women's quadruple sculls, the Germans led all the way.
Germany has won the event in all five Olympics since it was added
to the games. Britain won the silver and Ukraine got the bronze.
Russia won men's quadruple sculls in 5:56.86, followed by the
Czech Republic and Ukraine.
Romanians Constanta Burcica and Angela Alupei erased a 2-second
deficit in the last half of their 2,000-meter race to defend their
Olympic title. Germany won silver and the Netherlands took bronze.
In men's lightweight double sculls, Poland held off France for
the gold, while Vasileios Plymeros and Nikolaos Skiathitis gave
Greece its first Olympic rowing medal, the bronze.
Denmark won the men's lightweight four, followed by Australia
and Italy.
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Sailing
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- U.S. skipper Paul Cayard lost his lead in
the Star class with a bad afternoon, finishing 15th and 10th to
tumble to seventh place. He had to make two momentum-killing,
720-degree penalty turns and dropped out of contention.
John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree had a better day aboard their
Tornado catamaran. They finished first and sixth to take first
overall, two points ahead of defending gold medalists Roman Hagra
and Hans Peter Steinacher of Austria with four of 11 races sailed.
The U.S. 49er crew, Tim Wadlow of Boston and Pete Spaulding of
Miami, dropped from third to sixth with finishes of 13th and
eighth. There are five races left in the 16-race series.
Also, two more gold medals were awarded. Brazil's Robert Scheidt
won the Laser class, giving him three straight Olympic medals to go
along with an unprecedented seven world championships. He won the
gold in 1996 and the silver in 2000.
Norway's Siren Sundby won the Europe class for her first Olympic
gold medal.
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Shooting
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- American shooter Matt Emmons fired at the
wrong target on his final shot, blowing a commanding lead in the
50-meter three-position rifle event and allowing Jia Zhanbo of
China to take the gold.
The mistake dropped Emmons into eighth place with a score of
1,257.4 points. Jia won with 1,264.5. Michael Anti of the United
States moved into second with 1,263.1 points. Christian Planer of
Austria took the bronze at 1,262.8.
Had Emmons fired at the right target, he would have needed only
a 7 to win gold.
Andrea Benelli of Italy won the gold in skeet shooting, beating
Marko Kemppainen of Finland in a shoot-off. Juan Miguel Rodriguez
of Cuba won a three-way shoot-off with Nasser Al-Attiya of Qatar
and Shawn Dulohery of the United States for the bronze.
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Table Tennis
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- China's Zhang Yining won her second table
tennis gold medal of the Athens Games, beating surprise finalist
Kim Hyang Mi of North Korea 4-0 in the women's singles final.
Top-seeded Zhang dominated for a 11-8, 11-7, 11-2, 11-2 victory.
South Korea's Kim Kyung-ah won bronze with a 9-11, 11-8, 11-7,
11-5, 11-8 win over Jia Wei Li of Singapore.
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Team Handball
Men
Group A
Slovenia 26, South Korea 23
Croatia 30, Spain 22
Russia 34, Iceland 30
Group B
Hungary 26, Greece 22
France 27, Germany 22
Brazil 26, Egypt 22
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- World champion Croatia finished group play
unbeaten in five matches with a 30-22 victory over Spain, which
placed second in the group with a 4-1 record to also qualify for
the quarterfinals.
Mirza Dzomba scored seven goals and Igor Vori added six for
Croatia, with both assisted by Ivano Balic.
France finished 5-0 in Group B after a 27-22 win over Germany.
Hungary maintained second place with a 26-22 victory over Greece,
advancing to meet South Korea in Tuesday's quarterfinals. Carlos
Perez, a former Cuban, led Hungary with seven goals.
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Tennis
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Nicolas Massu of Chile won his second gold
medal of the Athens Olympics -- twice as many medals as the entire
star-studded U.S. tennis team managed.
Massu got past American Mardy Fish 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an
error-strewn men's singles final that lasted 4 hours.
Chile had never won a gold medal in any sport until Massu and
Fernando Gonzalez won the doubles title in a match that lasted more
than 31/2 hours and ended early Sunday.
Gonzalez won the singles bronze, beating Taylor Dent of the
United States. Fish's silver is the only tennis medal for a U.S.
squad that included Andy Roddick, Venus Williams and Martina
Navratilova.
Li Ting and Sun Tian Tian won China's first Olympic tennis medal
ever by beating Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual of
Spain 6-3, 6-3.
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Women's Basketball
Russia 93, Nigeria 58
Australia 84, Brazil 66
Czech Republic 74, New Zealand 57
Greece 93, Japan 91
United States 100, China 62
Spain 64, South Korea 61
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Katie Smith, the U.S. team's best outside
shooter, reinjured her right knee early in a 100-62 win over China.
The initial diagnosis was a sprain and Smith will undergo an MRI on
Monday.
The win extended the U.S. winning streak in the Olympics to 22.
The United States already had secured first place in Group B.
Oxana Rakhmatulina scored 15 points to lead Russia, which
already had secured a berth in the quarterfinals and closed out the
preliminary round by shooting 56 percent (35-for-62) from the
floor.
Lauren Jackson had 24 points and seven rebounds for unbeaten
Australia. Hana Machova scored 21 points to the lead the Czechs
over New Zealand, though both teams advanced to the quarterfinals.
Evanthia Maltsi's three-point play gave Greece the lead for
good, 88-87, with 1:25 to go, setting off a raucous celebration by
a crowd of 7,000 fans.
Spain outscored South Korea 8-2 over the final 2 minutes -- all
the points coming from the free throw line. Elisabeth Cebrian's two
free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining preserved the win.
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Women's Volleyball
United States 3, Cuba 0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-19)
Germany 3, Dominican Republic 0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-21)
Japan 3, Kenya 0 (25-8, 25-17, 25-14)
China 3, Russia 0 (25-15, 25-16, 28-26)
Italy 3, Greece 0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-22)
Brazil 3, South Korea 0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-23)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Desperate for a victory and in danger of
an embarrassing elimination from the women's volleyball tournament,
the United States finally played like a gold medal contender.
Logan Tom scored 19 points to lead the Americans to a win over
Cuba and a spot in the quarterfinals.
Zoila Barros Fernandez had a team-high nine points for
three-time defending gold medalist Cuba, which fell to third in the
group and will play Italy in the next round.
Gold medal favorite China, behind 16 points from Hao Yang, beat
Russia in three sets to earn the top spot in Group B. The Chinese
will face Japan in the quarterfinals.
Germany swept the Dominican Republic, but needed the United
States to lose to gain the final berth in their group.
Kana Oyama had 13 points for the Japanese in a sweep of winless
Kenya.
The Brazilians completed a perfect first round with a sweep of
South Korea and will play the United States, the No. 4 seed from
Pool B.
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Water Polo
Greece 7, Russia 4
Italy 8, Hungary 5
Canada 10, Kazakhstan 4
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Tania di Mario scored three goals as Italy
advanced to the semifinals against the United States, setting up a
rematch of the last world championship game.
Greece upset No. 3-ranked Russia and next faces defending
Olympic champion Australia.
Russia was bronze medalist at the Sydney Olympics and last
year's world championships, where Greece placed 9th.
Australia and the world champion Americans had byes, securing
automatic semifinal spots by finishing atop their groups in the
league round. Canada beat Kazakhstan in a classification match for
seventh and eighth places.
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Wrestling
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Patricia Miranda was the only American
women's wrestler who didn't lose. Sara McMann advanced into the
semifinals despite a loss but U.S. star Toccara Montgomery was hurt
by a terrible draw at 1581/2 pounds (72kg).
Montgomery was matched with five-time world champion Kyoko
Hamaguchi of Japan in a blind draw, and lost 8-4, costing her any
chance of a medal. Tela O'Donnell was eliminated from medal
contention at 121 pounds (55kg) with an 11-1 loss to Canada's Tonya
Verbeek.
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